Cold Shoulder
by Zana Zira
Summary: When Vincent fails to appear at Yuffie's twenty-first birthday party, the White Rose of Wutai is ready to chase him down with the Conformer. But when she learns that Vincent is ill, she decides that a little TLC - Yuffie Style - is exactly what the doctor ordered. And not because she loves him or anything! Nope, definitely not! Yuffentine story - awkwardness abounds. Please R & R.
1. Stubborn

**Author's Note: This is just a little something that came to me all of a sudden, and I liked the idea enough to write it down. I'm still hard at work on SOLDIER's Pride, but expect many more of these little "side-fics" because I'm full of them lately. Please review - constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

The morning was looking promising for the citizens of Kalm. The sun rose early and shone bright, the sky was clear and the chilly air was clean, and the snow from the blizzard of only a few days ago was already melting away. The sounds of the awakening village could be heard just after sunrise: the chirping of the birds, the bustle of shopkeepers hurrying off to work, children laughing and playing in the snow, and –

"KEH-CHOO!" The sneeze was loud enough to be heard through the thin walls of the small hotel room, had there been anyone around to hear it. The source of the sound, a pale, red-eyed, ebony-haired man dressed all in black, sniffled and sighed, reaching for yet another tissue from the box on the bedside table. Vincent Valentine groaned, sneezing again and coughing quietly into the crook of his arm. This was not good. He could feel the tip of his nose being rubbed red, and he could already imagine the jokes Yuffie would surely make when she saw him in Edge tonight. It was her twenty-first birthday, after all, and all of AVALANCHE would be there, so there was no way he could miss it. Vincent was almost never sick – in fact, the last illness he remembered had been during his Turk days, over three decades ago – and he hated it with every cell in his body. He would just have to tough it out, though, because besides the party later tonight, he was expected to report for duty at the W.R.O. Headquarters today to spend the morning training new recruits in, as Reeve had phrased it, "some damn good sharpshooting."

Standing up slowly, he pulled himself away from the soft warmth of the down comforter, running his fingers through his unruly black hair in a half-hearted attempt to tame it a little before donning his signature red cloak and slipping Cerberus into its holster on his hip. Sighing, he strode out of his room, making sure it was locked behind him, and headed for the front door of the hotel. As an afterthought, he drank a cup of coffee from the pot in the lobby before departing; he didn't feel like breakfast this morning, but he knew he should at least get _something _on his stomach before a training session. With much more careful steps than usual, he made his way out of the hotel and down the streets of Kalm, heading for the shooting range outside of town.

_"Valentine, you're not well. You should go back to bed",_ Chaos muttered from the recesses of Vincent's mind. The gunslinger sighed and gave the demon the best mental glare he could muster.

_"I am _fine_, Chaos. It's just a simple cold. I will return to bed after I have trained these recruits and attended Yuffie's party."_

_"_Fine_, he says,"_ Chaos growled teasingly. _"Well if you're so _fine_, I guess I won't warn you like I was going to, since you're doing such a _fine_ job of handling yourself."_

_"Warn me? About wh _– AAARGH!" Vincent actually shouted aloud as his right foot fell into a deep hole, sending him face-first into the middle of the dirt road. Groaning and spitting dirt out of his mouth, he carefully sat up and glared inwardly as Chaos cackled in his head.

_"Careful, Valentine. There are a lot of potholes around here. GYAHAHAHAHAAA!"_

_"You don't say." _Vincent was too tired to argue with Chaos at the moment. The fall had made his headache worse, and he noticed that his vision was a little blurry, probably due to the dust in his eyes. He stood, which turned out to be much more difficult than it should have due to the fact that his legs were now shaking, and lifted his PHS from his pocket. He considered just calling Reeve and cancelling the training session, since he was beginning to doubt that he could even stay standing long enough to shoot anything, but his pride ruled that idea out immediately. He was just going to have to deal with it. With more determination than walking usually requires, he gritted his teeth and started off once again, watching carefully for any more holes in the road. Chaos snickered at him the entire time.

By the time Vincent reached the training field, he had managed to convince himself that all of his symptoms were in his head, and that a little practice with the recruits was exactly what he needed. Despite the warning rumbles from Chaos in the back of his mind, he greeted Reeve almost eagerly, noting the surprise on the other man's face with amusement. Dark clouds were gathering overhead – so much for that perfect weather – but no one seemed to notice. Vincent was quickly occupied with instructing the eager new recruits, who seemed to look up to him almost like he had looked up to the Turks as a child. He spent the better part of four hours correcting their postures, telling some to loosen and others to tighten their grips on their guns, teaching them how to aim better and calculate how the breeze would affect the direction of the shot, and anything else he deemed important.

He was about to wrap up the session with a demonstration using Cerberus when the gathering clouds decided to burst open. In only a few seconds, everyone was soaked to the bone in freezing rain. Reeve, still grinning at Vincent despite his obvious shivering, waved at the gunman and shouted over the rain, "I think that's a wrap, Vincent! Thanks for your help!" Vincent nodded and departed with the rest of them, pulling his cloak as closely around himself as he could in an attempt to repel some of the water. He was suddenly exhausted, and he suspected that he had gotten so caught up in the training session that he had failed to notice his waning strength. He felt like lead weights were tied to his arms and legs, and his joints all felt stiff as he trudged through the mud back to his hotel room. By the time he had unlocked his door and stepped inside, his vision had begun to swim, and he felt very hot despite the icy rain dripping from his clothes and hair.

With slow, shaky steps, he reached the bed and flopped heavily onto it, leaving his feet to dangle off the foot of the bed as he lay motionless on his stomach. His wet hair was dripping onto the blankets, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do was sleep for another thirty years; his eyelids felt heavier than a fat Chocobo. He could hear Chaos muttering something to him, but none of the words made sense. Sleep… That's what he needed… Sleep…

A few seconds later, Vincent Valentine was curled up on the bed, completely dead to the world.


	2. Hell Hath No Fury

Yuffie was mad. No, scratch that – she was livid. No, scratch that again – she was completely, totally, royally, murderously_ pissed. _All of her friends had gathered at Seventh Heaven to celebrate her twenty-first birthday – and her first legal drink, courtesy of Tifa – and they were not the reason she was angry. Well, most of them weren't, anyway. The cause of her fury was the absence of a certain red-eyed, black-haired, vampire-like gunman who had promised her – repeatedly, seeing as she had asked him about ten times – that he would be there to celebrate with her. She hadn't minded waiting for him for a little while, since he was known to be fashionably late to almost any gathering he was invited to, but when ten minutes had stretched into thirty, and two hours after starting the party he was still unaccounted for, Yuffie began to worry. And when Yuffie worried, people got hurt.

"Yuffie, I'm sure he'll be here eventually," Tifa said gently, snapping the kunoichi out of her daydreams of murdering Vincent with a well-aimed shuriken. Yuffie sighed and tossed back her fourth shot of tequila, wincing as it burned its way down her throat. For someone who supposedly never drank, she could handle the strong stuff surprisingly well.

"I know, Tifa, and I don't wanna bring you guys down since you went to all this trouble for me and everything, but… I mean, he really couldn't have picked a worse day to flake out on me. Who _does_ that, seriously?! Who breaks a promise to a delicate lady like me on her own birthday?" She could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes, but she held them back. Tifa smiled sadly and patted her shoulder.

"Why dun you jus' *hic* call 'im and givvim a piece o' yer mind?" Cid slurred from his seat at the bar. "He *hic* prolly detherts – desserts – _deserves_ it." Yuffie grinned evilly at this suggestion, whipping her PHS out of her pocket with unbelievable speed and hitting the speed-dial for Vincent's phone. Cid mumbled some more unintelligible gibberish while she listened to it ring, waiting to hear the sound of the gunman's growling voice. As soon as she heard it click, she launched into the beginning of a Wutai-strength tirade.

"VINCENT GRIMOIRE VALENTINE!" she shouted into the phone, hearing him groan – and probably pull the phone away from his ear – on the other end. "Where the _hell_ are you?! It's ten o'clock already, and this party started at seven-thirty, which I know you knew since I've told you so many times, and –" She froze when she heard the raspy voice muttering something on the other end.

"Yuffie, I'm –" He paused to cough a few times before he could continue. "I'm sorry. I fell asleep earlier and I didn't…" Another few coughs. "…I didn't wake up until you called." Yuffie was really worried now, and all traces of anger faded from her face. Vincent had sounded like his throat was full of sand, and like he was very… _weak_. Besides that, the gunman rarely slept more than an hour or two at a time, so for him to sleep through her party…

"Vincent, it's okay, I –"

"The hell it is!" Cid shouted, snatching the phone from away from Yuffie and stumbling drunkenly to stand a few steps away. "Dammit, what the hell're ya thinkin', Vampire-boy? This here's a celebr- *hic* -ation and yer missin' out on all the fun!" Yuffie indignantly took the phone back while Tifa guided Cid into a chair; the man had begun to sway rather dangerously, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was Cid with a concussion.

"Vincent, are you alright?" Yuffie asked quietly, her hands beginning to tremble with worry as she gripped the phone.

"I've - *cough* - just contracted a minor virus, that's all. I will be fine if I just rest and –" He was cut off as a fit of dry coughing overcame him. Yuffie gasped and held the phone tighter, now beginning to feel the edges of panic creeping into her thoughts.

"Vincent! Vincent!" she shouted. He finally managed to get his coughing under control, but she could hear him wheezing slightly with every breath. "Vincent, where are you?"

"Kalm…" he managed.

"Where in Kalm?"

"Hotel… room… Number two hun –" He must have lost consciousness then, because she suddenly heard his phone drop to the floor before the call was cut off. This was very, very bad. Vincent _never_ got sick. _Never._ She immediately shoved her phone back into her pocket and started looking for her purse and backpack, which she knew were somewhere behind the counter.

"Yuffie, what is it?" Cloud asked as he held a protesting Cid down on the couch, preventing the completely inebriated pilot from harming himself.

"It's Vincent. I think he's really sick." Barret snorted with laughter.

"What, someone put garlic in his food or somethin'?" he asked with a chuckle.

"He's not a vampire, Barret," Yuffie said icily, too worried about the gunman to laugh as she usually would. She began to collect things she might need, such as blankets and medicine, as she talked. "And he sounded awful. He could barely breathe, and I think he passed out on the phone. I have to go check on him." She stuffed a few more bottles from the medicine cabinet and cans of soup from the kitchen into her backpack before hoisting it onto her shoulders.

"And just how're you gonna do that?" Barret asked. "We're all too drunk to drive you anywhere, and you ain't got a license." Yuffie smirked, reaching into her purse and pulling out a clear crystalline orb.

"Teleport Materia is really useful sometimes." She smiled and waved at all of them, holding the now glowing Materia in her other hand. "Thanks for the party, guys. It was really fun! I'll be back soon, okay?" Before any of them could respond, she had disappeared in a flash of light, leaving many stunned AVALANCHE members and a snoring Cid in a now ninja-less room.


	3. Yes, Mother

**Author's Note: Interestingly, while I am writing this chapter, it has started to rain and sleet and snow, and the wind kicked up to nearly 30 miles per hour. It really helps me write about weather like that when I can see it as I type. Being out in the winter storm between classes, it only took me a few minutes to feel as weak and shivery as Vincent (but at least it stopped when I got inside and dried off.) So, random notes aside, enjoy the story, and please review if you can.**

When Yuffie arrived in Kalm, freezing rain had once again begun to fall. She stood still for a moment, dazed from the dizzying experience of teleporting such a long distance, and looked around for the hotel Vincent had mentioned. It had been a long time since she had been in Kalm, so she wasn't even sure if there was still only one. Soon, though, she got her bearings and spotted the flickering lights of the hotel marquis. She took off in an instant, splashing down the narrow street like Ifrit's fire was at her heels. The concierge looked up in surprise when she burst through the door, dripping wet and panting, but he quickly regained his composure when she calmed herself and strode up to the counter.

"How may I help you?" he asked pleasantly.

"Vincent… Valentine… Which… Room?" she managed as she tried to catch her breath and stop shivering. No wonder Vincent had gotten sick – that rain was the devil!

"You're here to visit Mr. Valentine?" he asked suspiciously, knowing the man was a regular here and that he rarely, if ever, accepted guests. Yuffie nodded, grinning slightly.

"Yeah. We've known each other a long time, and he knows I'm coming." Okay, so that last part was technically a lie, but this was no time for technicalities. The man seemed relieved by this, though, and he nodded before typing something into the computer.

"He's in room two-hundred and five," he finally said, pointing to the elevator just down the hall.

"Thank you very much," Yuffie said with a quick bow.

"Any time. Take care of your friend, okay? No one deserves to be alone on a night like this." Yuffie smiled and nodded, striding purposefully toward the elevator. As soon as the doors had closed behind her, she hit the second floor button repeatedly, willing it to go faster. Just as she was beginning to consider breaking through the ceiling and hauling the thing up the shaft herself, it reached the second floor and the doors slid open; she nearly fell on her face in her hurry to get out. The ninja rapidly scanned the hall for Vincent's room and sprinted off toward it as soon as she spotted it, almost knocking down two other guests who stood in her way. She grabbed the door handle and her heart raced in alarm when she found it unlocked; Vincent was much too cautious to _ever_ leave the door unlocked. It flew open and banged against the wall, and she heard a muffled groan in response.

"Vincent?" she asked quietly, stepping hesitantly into the dark room. "Are you alright?" She fumbled around until she found the light switch and sighed when she saw Vincent's limp form in the middle of the bed. There were tissues strewn across the covers and the floor, and he shivered despite still being fully dressed. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder to get his attention. She could feel the heat from his body through all of his clothing, and it worried her immediately.

"Yuf…fie?" the gunman rasped, coughing harshly after he spoke.

"Yeah, Vince, it's me," she said gently, patting his shoulder softly, as though he might break.

"You're not… at your party… Why?"

"Well I couldn't just leave you alone to suffer, now could I?" She heard Vincent sigh, and he began to shiver beneath her hand again. She put her other hand on his forehead and shot him a sympathetic look, which he did not see through his glassy eyes. "You're burning up. We really need to get you…" Her voice trailed off as her hand brushed against his hair and found it still very damp and cold. "Vincent… Did you go out in the rain within the last hour or so?"

"No… This morning… About eleven…" he wheezed. Yuffie's eyes narrowed, and she turned his head to look her in the eyes.

"Do you mean to tell me," she whispered menacingly, "that you have been lying here in cold, wet clothes for almost _twelve hours_?!" Vincent shrugged sheepishly.

"I suppose so…"

"Vincent Valentine, you are unbelievable! Come on, we have to get you into something dry before you get even sicker!" She hauled him up bodily into a sitting position and began rummaging through his closet and dresser in search of some pajamas, or at least a dry set of clothes. The gunman stared on in shock, more than a little overwhelmed by Yuffie's sudden intrusion and the way she was tearing through the room like a tornado. When she found nothing at all, she turned toward Vincent with her hands on her hips just like she imagined his mother would have when he was young. "Young man," she said sternly, ignoring the fact that he was actually forty years older than her. "Where are your extra clothes?" She smiled when she saw him blush; she was beginning to enjoy this.

"I… I usually don't need –" Yuffie's exasperated sigh cut him off mid-sentence.

"Well, you do now." She reached into her backpack and produced a pair of blue cotton pajamas with yellow Chocobos on them. Vincent's eyes widened, and he backed up a little on the bed, trying to escape the abominably cute clothes.

"Where…" He stopped to cough into his sleeve. "Did you get those?"

"I… ahem… _Borrowed_ them from Cloud's room. They're definitely gonna be short on you, but at least you're both about the same waist size." Vincent shook his head, his eyes widening as she approached him with the pajamas. "Vincent," she said sternly, holding the clothes out to him. "Either you put these on yourself, or I'll put them on you." He turned a color just slightly lighter than his cloak and grudgingly took the clothing from her, relieved when she at least turned her back to let him change. He contemplated shredding them with his gauntlet, but he suspected that she might have a pink pair stashed away somewhere and decided against it.

Finally, after struggling with the many buttons and straps on his outfit, he managed to strip down to his boxers and slip into the – although he hated to admit it – comfortable pajamas. With a tired groan, he flopped back onto the bed, massaging his aching temples and suddenly wanting to sleep again. Yuffie was at his side in an instant, coaxing him up so she could sit him against some pillows at the head of the bed. He allowed her to with no complaint; he was too tired to resist, no matter how much it hurt his pride to be cared for like an invalid.

"Do you think you can take these pills, Vince?" the young ninja asked, holding out a few assorted capsules and tablets she had taken from her backpack while he changed. "They're cough tablets and fever reducers. And after you take them, I'll make some soup for you, okay?" Vincent nodded dumbly, barely processing what she was saying. She pressed the pills into his palm and handed him a glass of water, and he attempted to take them quickly. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared for how much they would hurt his swollen throat, and he accidentally gasped with water in his mouth, choking and spluttering as he inhaled the water and medicine. Yuffie cursed and came to his side, thumping him on the back until he was able to catch his breath again. "So, that was a spectacular failure," she said as he continued to cough softly. "I guess from now on it's just liquid medicine for you, huh?"

"It would seem so," Vincent rasped. "Though… I appreciate the gesture… anyway…" Yuffie smiled and walked over to the kitchenette in his room, opening a can of chicken soup and beginning to heat it on the stove.

"You really need rest, Vincent, but I want you to eat something first, okay?" He nodded slowly, not wanting to abuse his sore throat any more than he had to. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, and he fought to stay awake for what seemed like an eternity before he felt the bed shift again. He opened his eyes and saw Yuffie sitting beside him, holding a bowl of chicken soup and a spoon out for him. He muttered a quick "thank you" and took it from her, noticing to his dismay that he could barely hold it still for all the shivering he was doing. The spoon trembled in his fingers, and he came very close to tipping the bowl into his lap multiple times.

"Here," Yuffie said gently, taking the bowl back from him and holding it up to his lips instead. He drank the broth slowly, enjoying the way it warmed him up and eased his shivers slightly. Finally, all that remained were the noodles and chicken, and he was able to eat those himself without worrying that he would spill anything down his front. Now, belly full and suddenly very sleepy, he yawned and slid down onto his back, not even bothering to feel embarrassed when Yuffie fluffed his pillow and pulled the comforter up to his chin. She felt his forehead again, making a quiet, disapproving noise when she noticed that his fever had actually gotten higher, but she said nothing. He was about to ask her what was wrong, since he had been too dazed to notice what she was doing, but by the time the question reached his lips he was already peacefully asleep, and she was left to watch him carefully from the chair beside his bed. By the time she began to drift off herself, she knew this had been the right decision, after all.


	4. Fever Dreams

_When Vincent opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a metal table in a dimly lit room, surrounded by glowing mako tubes and blank concrete walls. It was cold, and he realized with a fearful shiver that he was undressed, covered only by a surgical sheet. This wasn't his hotel room; how had he gotten here? He tried to sit up, but some invisible force was holding him down, like a thousand pound weight resting on every inch of his body. He fought to control his now frantic breathing. Panic had begun to chill his blood; he remembered this place, and he knew he had to get out of here before –_

_"Ah, Mr. Valentine," said a black-haired scientist, striding into the room and peering at Vincent over his thick glasses. "I'm so glad you could find the time to pay me a visit. You're just in time for another set of tests." Vincent's heart began to race, and he tried desperately to move his limbs, knowing he could not overpower whatever this magic was but praying for it anyway. "Oh, come now," Hojo said in a sickeningly gentle voice as he watched Vincent's red eyes dart back and forth. "There's no need to be afraid. You know I never hurt you badly enough to kill you…" Vincent's eyes widened, and he started to spit out a stream of curses that Cid would be proud of before he realized he was mute. Had Hojo done this to him? The mad scientist chuckled and fetched a tray of surgical instruments before coming over to stand beside Vincent._

_"Now, then, what parts need working on today…?" he asked quietly, holding the scalpel over Vincent's chest, just above the place where the Protomateria rested. "Any suggestions?" Vincent struggled vainly against his own immobilized body, feeling a scream trying to crawl up his throat and wishing it could escape._

_"_This is all wrong!_"_ _Vincent thought frantically, willing himself to lose consciousness before the excruciating pain could begin. "_I've been gone from this place for years! This can't be real!_" Vincent gasped, his mouth open in a soundless scream as he felt the scalpel blade slice deep into his chest. "_Please…_" he pleaded in his mind, praying for release. "_Please, just kill me!_" He was uttering so many silent screams he couldn't draw a breath; the pain was too horrible. A woman's voice was murmuring something to him, but he couldn't make out the words. Could it be Lucrecia? No, maybe it was Yuffie. "_Is anyone there? Where are you? Chaos, someone, anyone, help me…_"_

* * *

In the middle of the night, Yuffie woke with a start to the sound of a sharp gasp from Vincent. She turned on a dim lamp and looked for the source of his discomfort, noticing with alarm that he was drenched in sweat. A quick touch to his forehead confirmed that his fever was incredibly high, and she hurriedly filled a bowl with ice water and fetched some washcloths from the bathroom before returning to his bedside. After throwing the comforter off of him, she hurriedly unbuttoned his pajama shirt and slipped it off, wiping his face and chest with the cool rags to try to bring his fever down a little. He shivered and groaned when the cold water touched his skin, and she reached out to brush some of his damp hair out of his face as reassuringly as she could.

"I know it doesn't feel good, Vincent, but I have to do this, okay?" she murmured, knowing he probably did not hear a word she said. He moaned softly, as if he was trying to speak, but if he was she had no idea what he was trying to say. As soon as she touched his chest with the rag again, he flinched, unconsciously trying to escape her touch. "Vincent, what's wrong?" she asked, now very alarmed. Had he come down with something other than a cold? What if something was really wrong? What if -

"All... wrong…" he muttered in his feverish sleep.

"What?"

"Gone... this place... years..." He suddenly gasped and sat up, nearly falling off the bed before she steadied him.

"Ah! Vincent!" Yuffie cried, grabbing his wrists firmly as he struggled against her, his mouth open in a whispered scream. "Vincent, wake up. You're having a nightmare. Vincent!" He groaned and continued to fight her with all the strength his weakened body could muster.

"Please… someone..." he whispered, sounding as if his voice were about to break. Yuffie held onto his wrists and sat on top of his chest, pinning him down so he couldn't throw himself onto the floor. His rapid breathing had begun to make him cough, and he was shivering so hard he was almost convulsing. Yuffie wished with all her heart that she knew what it was Vincent was dreaming so she could help him through it, but right now her main concern was just getting him out of this fever-induced nightmare.

"Vincent, it's alright. I'm here. You're safe now." She felt him relax ever so slightly in her grasp, and she sat down beside him on the bed, pulling his trembling body into her lap and gently rubbing circles on his back. She slowly rocked his body back and forth with hers, trying to make him feel safe any way she could and hating the fact that there was nothing more she could do. He tensed and lurched forward as several dry coughs slipped past his lips, but after a few minutes he finally began to relax, shaking with exhaustion as his nightmares began to abate. He laid his head on her shoulder and clung to her as tightly as he could, seeking comfort although he was not conscious enough to know it. She continued to speak softly to him and hold him close, wiping his forehead with a cool rag every few minutes and as she attempted to bring his fever down.

When he had finally settled down enough to loosen his hold on her and his breathing had returned to normal, Yuffie lowered him back onto the bed and sat down beside him, brushing a few loose strands of hair back from his face. His eyes opened slightly, and she wasn't sure he was even conscious, but her heart began beating much faster when he curled up around her, pressing himself against her side. If her face wasn't red before, it certainly was now. She gulped, assuring herself that he was probably only half-conscious and not aware of what he was doing.

She shifted further into his grip when he began pulling her toward him, lying down on the mattress and praying that he did not wake up while she did so. As soon as he felt her settle onto the bed, he wrapped his arm around her and drifted off completely with a contented sigh; Yuffie knew there was now no way she was going to be able to get up until he woke again. "_And this is yet another thing that I will never be able to tell him about_," she thought, slightly saddened. "_Oh, well. At least he's warm_." They spent the rest of the night that way, with Vincent holding tightly to Yuffie, and the gunman stayed peacefully asleep the entire time. And Yuffie – though she would never admit it to Vincent for fear of being hung upside down from the roof – enjoyed every minute of it.

**Author's Note: Wow, I really did make it hard for Vincent during this chapter, didn't I? Oh, well, at least Yuffie was there for him. This story should be over in the next few chapters, though. I can't keep torturing Vincent forever!**

**Vincent: You shouldn't have ever tortured me in the first place.**

**Me: Quiet, you!**


	5. Honey and Ginger

**Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to update! I'm making this chapter longer than usual to make up for the lack of updates. I didn't forget about it, but I had to move to a completely new place when my building got flooded, and this chapter was being really difficult and not turning out the way I wanted no matter how many times I redid it. So, here's the product of almost two weeks of edits and re-edits. I hope you like it! Also, ironically, I now have a cold as I am writing this. Not nearly as bad as Vincent's flu, but I have a feeling it's his revenge on me for writing him sick. :P**

The first thing Vincent saw when he awoke the next morning was Yuffie, curled up beside him with her back against his chest. He couldn't remember why she was there, but he had no chance to dwell on it; at that moment, he was seized by a painful fit of dry, wheezy coughing that had him curled up into a gasping ball before he knew what had happened. Each rattling hack made him feel like his throat was full of liquid fire, and he barely had time to take a breath before it was cut off by another cough. Yuffie had snapped awake with the first wheeze, and she hurried out of bed and fetched a glass of water and the bottle of cough syrup in her backpack. She helped him to sit up, knowing that would help him breathe better, and held the glass up to his lips so he could drink. He sucked it down as if he hadn't had water in years, and his coughs immediately began to ease. A short time later they abated completely, and he sank tiredly back onto his pillow, holding his now throbbing head and closing his eyes.

"Hey, Vincent, I just thought of something," Yuffie said slowly as she placed the empty glass on the nightstand and began filling a little plastic cup with cough syrup. He cracked open his ruby-colored eyes and looked at her inquisitively. "You didn't get a flu shot, did you?"

"No," he rasped, hating how airy his voice sounded. "I never get sick, so there was no need." Yuffie sighed, somehow knowing he was going to say that.

"Yeah, well, now you've got a pretty nasty case of the flu." She handed him the cup of medicine and he tossed it back, grimacing at the bitter taste. "I think it's gonna get a little worse before it gets any better, even with your demons to help you." Vincent sighed, rolling over onto his stomach and burying his face in the pillow. "What are you doing now?"

"Trying to smother myself," he answered dryly.

"Why?"

"That way I can at least die with a little of my dignity intact." Yuffie chuckled, amazed that he was actually cracking a joke, and patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"You'll get through this in one piece. Don't worry. Do you feel like eating anything?" He rolled back onto his side, ignoring the sudden irritable grumble of his stomach, and nodded. She smiled and strode into the kitchen to heat up another bowl of chicken soup. When it was finished, she handed it to him and watched to see if he would be able to hold it still enough to eat it. He could this time, and although he seemed a little less eager to eat than she had expected, she was relieved to see that he seemed a little more alert once he had gotten some food into him. After a few minutes of silence, he put the empty bowl down on the nightstand and looked at her, his eyes full of confusion.

"Yuffie…" he finally said. "This morning, you were beside me when I woke up. But I don't remember how –"

"You were having a terrible nightmare, but I don't really know what it was about. You seemed really scared, and I couldn't just leave you to deal with that alone…" She felt a little guilty after that last statement, wishing she could have done more than just hold him while he suffered through it. "Once you had calmed down some, you just sorta curled up around me, so I stayed." Vincent turned a rich shade of scarlet and seemed to forget how to breathe for a second.

"I… I see. It's been a long time since I've had a nightmare bad enough for anyone to notice. Thank you, then, Yuffie."

"Any time." A disturbing thought occurred to him, and he suddenly paled and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Did I hurt you while you were trying to calm me?" he asked in a very small voice. He was terrified of what the answer would be; he knew just what those claws on his gauntlet could do to a body – it was what made them so useful in battle. Yuffie gasped, almost wanting to wrap her arms around him and cry. After all the things he had dealt with last night, the first thing he was worried about was whether _she_ was okay?

"Oh, no, not at all! I'm totally fine!" she nearly shouted, hoping with all her heart that he would believe her and not trap himself in another net of guilt. Vincent smirked a little, then, realizing she was telling the truth.

"Well, that's debatable." He smiled slightly at her indignant huff. "But I'm glad I didn't hurt you. That would be a terrible - *cough* - way to repay your kindn –" He was once again cut off by a series of coughs that left him painfully clutching his chest and wheezing afterward. Yuffie's expression softened with worry.

"I think you should keep the talking to a minimum, Vincent." She suddenly gave him a teasing grin. "I know that's pretty hard for you, but just try, alright?" He rolled his eyes and half-heartedly swatted at her with his gauntlet. The movement made the food in his stomach shift, and he groaned softly as he felt a sudden wave of nausea coming on. He breathed deeply and slowly, trying to calm his now churning insides, and Yuffie sat down beside him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked, not sure what was wrong. He wasn't sure speaking was a good idea, so he shook his head slowly as one hand drifted up to cover his mouth. A second later, he bolted out of the bed, knocking Yuffie to the floor in his haste; he didn't even manage to shut the bathroom door before he was on his knees, clutching the rim of the toilet and retching harder than he had ever thought possible. It had been so long since he was last sick like this that he had completely forgotten what it felt like, and it frightened him a little. Every muscle in his body was tense, and he could barely breathe between the painful spasms in his stomach. He held one of his hands over his belly and groaned miserably, wishing with all his heart that it would stop – he was pretty sure he preferred bullet wounds to this feeling.

Only a few seconds after he had dropped to his knees, he heard someone step up behind him, and then Yuffie's fingers were gently combing through his unruly black hair and holding it away from his face. She quickly secured it with a small hair band and knelt beside him, rubbing his back and shoulders to help relax some of the already shaking muscles. She murmured soothing words to him as he gasped and heaved again, trying to make him as comfortable as she could and knowing there wasn't anything she could do to make it stop.

After a few more minutes and several painful bouts of dry-heaving, Vincent slumped forward and laid his head on his arms, panting and shivering miserably. Yuffie stood and left his side for a moment; he could hear water running nearby, but he was still too disoriented and dizzy to look around for her. He was taken by surprise, then, when he felt her hand slip under his chin and lift his face up so she could wipe his mouth with a warm washcloth. He reluctantly allowed her to; her touch was comforting, and the warmth felt good on his face. Besides, he was too tired to fight her on it right now.

"Do you think you're finished now?" she asked softly, patting his shoulder as she tossed the washcloth into a laundry basket in the corner. He nodded, gratefully accepting the glass of water she offered him and rinsing his mouth out, glad to be rid of the awful taste.

"Yes. For now, at least." He sighed, using his shaking arms to push himself up and falling back to his knees instead. When had he become too weak to stand? Yuffie was on the job in an instant. With a bit of effort, she lifted his arm over her shoulders and helped him walk back to the bed, somehow managing to support most of his weight even though he was almost ten inches taller and a good deal heavier. She let him arrange his long limbs on the bed and then pulled the covers up to his chin with a sympathetic smile.

"Are you still feeling queasy?" she asked softly, sitting down on the bed beside him. An irritable lurch from his stomach told him that yes, he still was.

"Slightly, yes. It is… very unpleasant…" he said, embarrassed at how much he felt he was whining to her lately.

"Tell me about it," she said with a sigh. "I get to do this every single time I get on an airship. 'Course, you know that. I've gotten your shoes several times. And your shirt, that one time over Junon." She smiled and scratched her head, embarrassed.

"Better me than Cid," Vincent said with a weak smile of his own. "He would be livid, but things like that really don't bother me much."

"Nothing really bothers you much, does it?"

"I suppose n –" Vincent was cut off by a short bout of painful coughs that nearly made him sick again. He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his throat in an attempt to alleviate some of the soreness. "I stand corrected," he rasped. "This most definitely bothers me." Yuffie gasped and stood up quickly, nearly giving Vincent a heart attack as she leaped over to her backpack, which she had left near the window earlier.

"I know just what to do, Vince!" she said excitedly, rifling through her backpack in search of Shiva-knew-what. He just watched with slightly frightened amusement, wondering just what kind of terrible-tasting medicines or fuzzy pink pajamas she might be searching for in that bag. Finally, with a squeak of happiness, she retrieved a box of – something, holding it up triumphantly beside a bottle of golden liquid in the shape of a moogle. She hurriedly ran into the kitchen and started heating up some water, leaving Vincent to watch in confusion while she worked. After a few minutes, she grabbed a mug and filled it with the hot water, pulling something out of the box and dropping it in with a squirt of what Vincent now recognized as honey. Finally, she brought the steaming drink over to him, proudly presenting him to it like a dog bringing its master the newspaper.

"Yuffie, is this tea?" Vincent asked, completely confused. What in the world was tea going to do for him? He didn't want to offend her, though, so he carefully sat up and took the mug from her.

"Yup. Ginger tea. With my favorite brand of honey, too."

"And… What does ginger tea have to do with the flu?"

"Wow. You weren't kidding about never getting sick. I thought _everyone_ knew about tea and the flu." Vincent just blinked at her. "Okay, so… Tea is good for sore throats, since it's warm, and the honey will help you not to cough so much. But since this is _ginger_ tea, it will also help with an upset stomach. That's why I always keep some around – it actually helps my motion sickness a ton." Vincent felt his stomach churn again and prayed that she was right about that. He took a hesitant sip of the drink and was pleasantly surprised to find that he liked the taste. It also felt nice as it ran down his raw throat and spread warmth throughout his shivering body. He took a few more tiny sips, not wanting to press his luck, and set the mug on the nightstand while he waited to see if it would stay down. To his relief and Yuffie's delight, it worked almost immediately, and the queasiness faded quickly to almost nothing.

Suddenly he was very sleepy, and he could barely keep his eyelids up as he stifled a yawn, hoping Yuffie wouldn't see it. She chuckled and encouraged him to lie back down on the pillow, untying his hair so it wouldn't cause him any discomfort. He sighed in what sounded almost like contentment, barely aware of where he was anymore. She started to get off of the bed and go back to her chair, but he suddenly made a quiet, protesting noise and turned his head slightly in her direction.

"Do you want me to stay, Vincent?" She felt her heart speed up as she asked that, and she was glad he was almost totally asleep and wouldn't notice. He grunted an affirmative and sank completely into sleep once she stopped moving away from him. With a shy smile, she cuddled up to his overly-warm body, brushing a few strands of loose hair out of his face.

"_Waitwaitwait, whoa!_" she thought suddenly, taking her hand away from Vincent's cheek. "_What are you _doing,_ Yuffie? You're acting almost like you…_" She stopped to consider just what she was thinking. "_Like you… _Love_ him? Do you love him? Nah, there's no way._" She sat up slightly to look at his sleeping face, beautiful even though he was slightly sweaty and his cheeks were flushed with fever. She felt her heart race and moved a little farther away from him, surprised when he turned over and pressed himself against her in his sleep, draping a long arm over her waist and pulling her closer to him with a soft sigh.

"Absolutely no way…"

**Almost done here, folks! The next chapter should wrap up this story pretty nicely. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and I'll try my best to make it an ending you'll really love!**


	6. Clouded Judgment

**Author's Note: Hey, everyone! This chapter was being difficult, so sorry for the delay in updates. I have decided to expand this chapter into two, so this story will actually end in the next chapter instead of in this one. *shrugs* Anyway, enjoy, and be prepared for some Vincent-angst (surprise, surprise.)**

For almost the entirety of the next two days, Vincent stayed in bed, only getting up to shower, change his clothes, and, on three occasions, run off to be sick. Yuffie remained by his side the entire time, giving him space but always at the ready with a hot mug of ginger tea and a comforting word when he needed it. She couldn't help the fact that her face reddened almost every time she looked at him now, and the fact that he was surprisingly very cuddly when he was asleep wasn't helping. She was sure it was only her imagination making her believe that he wanted _her_ specifically, though, so she never said anything to him about it. It made her a little sad to think that it was probably just a one-sided crush; after all, as far as she knew, he still had eyes only for Lucrecia.

She hadn't had a chance to ask him even if she wanted to, though. He spent most of his time sleeping, but she had too much energy for that, so she often ended up stepping out of the hotel for short periods to run around and exercise. He was never awake when she came back, since she made sure to be quick, so today when she returned to find him in the kitchen heating up a bowl of soup for himself, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Ah, Yuffie, there you are," he said quietly, coughing once into the sleeve of his shirt; his voice was still rough, but much stronger than it had been three days ago. "I wasn't sure where you had gone."

"I just went out for a run. I get kinda stir-crazy if I stay in one place too long, y'know?" He looked slightly guilty for some reason and stared remorsefully at her.

"I've been an inconvenience for you, haven't I?" Her eyes widened to an almost comical size, and she strode over to Vincent and wrapped him in a tight hug from behind before she knew what she was doing. He tensed immediately and dropped the spoon he had been holding to the floor with a clatter of metal on tile, but she held on anyway.

"Vincent Valentine, you could _never_ be an inconvenience for me," she mumbled into his back. His face reddened noticeably, and he looked at her strangely when she finally let go of him.

"Yuf…fie… I…" He wasn't sure what to say to that, and she acted like she hadn't heard him while she picked the spoon up off of the floor and washed it in the sink.

"So, it looks like you're feeling better," she said casually as she shooed him away from the stove and finished cooking the soup herself. He waited until she turned to look at him again before he answered, smiling ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, much better. Thank you for all of your help, Yuffie." She shrugged and grinned at him, handing him the bowl of soup and hopping up to sit on top of the counter while he sat in the chair and ate.

"Aww, it was nothin'. Everybody deserves to be spoiled a little when they're sick, y'know?" He looked down and cleared his throat, still a little embarrassed by the fact that he had let her see him so vulnerable. "And besides, it had been awhile since I'd last seen you, so I was happy to get a chance to." At that, he snapped his head up, not sure he had heard her right.

"You were _glad_… to see _me_?"

"Well, duh! Who wouldn't be? Oh, I mean… uh… that is…" Her face suddenly reddened and she looked away, trying to occupy herself with washing out a couple of soup bowls in the sink.

"_She's got it _bad _for you, Valentine,_" Chaos teased from the recesses of Vincent's mind. It had been refreshing to get some peace and quiet for a few days, since when Vincent was sick so was Chaos, but now that Vincent was feeling better the conversations were back in full force.

"_She does not._"

"_Oh, so it's normal for her to turn red and start forgetting how to speak whenever she looks at you? Last time I checked, that wasn't the norm for Little Miss Never-Shuts-Up._"

"_No… That's definitely new… And don't call her that._" He could feel Chaos smirking at that last remark and forced himself not to blush.

"_Well, anyway, looks like you'd better face the fact that she's enamored with you, stud._"

"_You… I… 'Stud'? Where did that come from?_" Chaos shrugged – or what could best be described as a shrug, considering he didn't actually have shoulders – and Vincent sighed. "_Fine. Even if you're right, what am I supposed to do about it? You know I'm no good at these kinds of things._"

"Vincent?" Yuffie's voice snapped him out of his reverie, and he looked up to find her staring worriedly at him. "Are you alright? You were spacing out a little."

"Yes… I was just talking to Chaos." Yuffie nodded and made a sound of understanding.

"Oh? And what did he say?" Vincent blushed and avoided her eyes, feeling like he had invaded her privacy somehow with his inner conversation. Yuffie gasped dramatically and held her hands over her mouth. "_Vincent_!" she said in her best shocked voice. "Shame on you! I didn't know you were that kind of guy!" He tried to open his mouth to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say and just ended up looking at her with his mouth hanging open. She burst out laughing and fell off of the counter, curled up in a giggling ball on the floor. "Vin – hahahaha! Vincent, I – I was just – I was just kidding-ahahahaha!"

After a minute or two, she gained control of herself, lying on the floor and looking up at him with tears of laughter in her eyes. He reached down to help her up, and she gratefully accepted, letting him pull her to her feet. As soon as she was upright, though, she stumbled over her feet and fell forward; he caught her and pulled her against his chest, not thinking about how awkward a position that was until it was too late. She looked up into his crimson eyes, a bright blush on her cheeks, and he stared back, hoping she could not feel the way his heart was suddenly racing in his chest.

A moment later, she pressed her lips against his; he gasped and pulled away, letting her fall to the floor in an undignified heap. The look of absolute hurt and confusion in her eyes tore at his heart, but he was still too shocked to speak. She stood shakily and hurriedly wiped her eyes with her palm, avoiding eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her voice dangerously near breaking. "I shouldn't have… have surprised y-you like…" She halted, biting her lip and choking back a sob. Vincent watched in silence as she picked up her purse and backpack from the foot of his bed, tossing them over her shoulders. He wanted to reach out to her, to say something, anything to comfort her, but he just couldn't get the words to come. She walked to the door of his room, sniffling once and still avoiding his eyes. "I… I'm glad you're feeling better, Vince – er, Vincent," she corrected herself, not wanting to use the nickname. "I'll be in touch, okay? Start wearing a coat when you go out, and… See ya." With that, she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her to cover the sound of the sobs she could no longer hold back.

"_Well, _that _was stupid of you,_" Chaos remarked acidly after she had gone. "_Aren't you going to go after her?_"

"_No_," Vincent said sadly, still staring at the place where she had been. "_I can't. She shouldn't trust me like that, enough to…_" He couldn't bring himself to say "love me." "_I'll only hurt her if I let her get close._" Chaos growled impatiently, making Vincent's head feel like it was vibrating.

"_For Shiva's sake, Valentine! It's mutual, isn't it?_"

"_What are you talking about_?"

"_Don't play stupid with me, Host. I share your body and also get a large share of your emotions, and I can tell you that if even _I _am very fond of the girl, you must be head over heels for her._"

"_That changes nothing. I still can't go after her. She's better off just remaining a friend. The love of someone like Yuffie isn't something I deserve._" Chaos roared, baring his nonexistent fangs at Vincent in obvious frustration.

"_Would you please just _get over yourself_?_" he growled. "_I refuse to let you chase away the one woman we've met so far who loves you despite the fact that you have several powerful demons sharing your body, not to mention enough emotional baggage to put that Cloud kid to shame. You are going to go after her _now _and tell her how you feel, or so help me I will take over your body, make sure it still looks like you, and serenade her from every rooftop in Kalm in that gravelly, tone-deaf voice of yours!_" Vincent growled at Chaos, his crimson eyes narrowing in a look that would send most people scurrying away from him.

"_You wouldn't dare._"

"_Try me._"

Sadly, it seemed evil looks didn't work on otherworldly demons. With a sigh of defeat, Vincent hurriedly changed into his normal clothes, out the door and hot on Yuffie's trail before Chaos could decide to make good on his threat.


	7. Hold Me Tight

It had begun to snow just after Yuffie had left Vincent's room, running as fast as her feet would carry her and not caring where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from that hotel as she possibly could before anyone saw how much she was crying; ninjas were _not_ supposed to cry. It was really cold, and she wished she had thought to grab a coat or a blanket, but she had accidentally left those in the room in her hurry to leave. Well, too bad, she wasn't going to go back now. She could tough out a little snow. She thought about the look of surprise, or maybe even _disgust_ she had seen on Vincent's face after she tried to kiss him, and new tears streaked their way down her face, freezing before they reached her chin. She had really messed it up now; he would probably never talk to her again.

She continued to run down a dirt road at the edge of town, not bothering to look where she was going anymore; her vision was too blurred to be of any use anyway. She heard a sound like a flag flapping behind her and sped up, knowing that Vincent had probably decided to come after her and not wanting to make things any worse by letting him see her tears. The sound of light footfalls reached her ears and she ran faster, hearing the pursuer speed up as well and not daring to look back. She cursed inwardly, remembering that she had left her Teleport Materia on the bedside table in Vincent's room after she had been polishing it the day before. What a place for it to be when she needed it _now_! She broke into a full-out sprint, intending to make it to the woods and disappear into the trees.

Suddenly, her foot slipped on a slick patch of mud, and she shrieked as she wound up face-down in the dusty dirt road. The footsteps behind her got louder, and she knew immediately by the sound of cloth flapping nearby that Vincent had caught up to her. Perfect. A soft chuckle reached her ears, and she bristled furiously. Now he was _laughing_ at her – even better! She whirled around to tear him a new one and instead found herself being picked up by two strong arms, the snarl dying on her lips as she was gently set on her feet to look the gunman in the face. He said nothing, as expected, but he surprised her by gently reaching out and brushing a tear from the corner her eye, running his thumb down her cheek to gently hold her chin in his hand. Now it was her turn to pull away from him.

"What the hell, Vincent?!" she shouted, noticing that he flinched when he saw how furious she was. "First you reject me when I try to kiss you, then you come after me and freaking _laugh_ at me when I fall on my face, and now you're trying to put the move on _me_? I don't know what you're thinking, but if you're doing this out of guilt then forget it. I don't want to be just another sin for you to beat yourself up over." She could tell the words stung him deeply, but she didn't care – she was too confused by how he was behaving to worry about him angsting over that at the moment. With a small squeak of indignation, she suddenly found herself wrapped in a tight embrace and pulled against Vincent's chest. She struggled at first, but relented when she realized he wasn't going to let go.

"You were shivering…" he said quietly, looking down at her and sighing when she refused to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry for earlier, Yuffie. I never meant to hurt you, I just…"

"You just don't feel anything for me?" she asked accusingly. He winced, and she sighed. "I figured. Why would I think you would, anyway? I'm just some overemotional little girl who has way too much energy for a guy like you to deal with, aren't I? I'm not enough like Lucrecia."

"Yuffie, that's not what I –"

"Just answer me this, Vincent, and then I'll leave you alone forever if that's what you want." She could feel tears in her eyes again but refused to let them fall. "What do you think of me?"

"What do I… think of you?" he repeated, giving himself time to answer her. "I think you're a great person, Yuffie, and that you've matured unimaginably from the girl I met five years ago. I think you're honest, and headstrong, and stubborn, and perhaps sometimes a little too energetic, but I also think you're kind and supportive, and willing to put others' happiness above your own, even the ones who don't deserve it at all. I'm always happy to see you now, even if I wasn't when I first met you, and I always find myself missing you when you leave. And most importantly, I think I've given you the wrong impression entirely about just who I care for the most, because I was too ignorant to realize what you thought and correct it." He fell into silence, waiting for some kind of response from her. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest and decided he'd rather be buried six feet underground than experience all of the fear eating away at him right now, but he didn't let any of that show. Yuffie looked up at him slowly, tears trailing down her face, and hugged him tightly, trembling in his arms.

"Why didn't you tell me any of that before, Vinnie?"

"I was afraid…" he whispered, letting his fingers trail through her hair as he spoke. "You've always been there for me, whether I asked for it or not; and to ruin what we have, to lose you because you didn't feel the same way… I didn't think I could let myself live with that. And I'm not an expert at romance, Yuffie, as you've already seen. I was afraid I would hurt you, and you'd get tired of being around me." She hugged him tighter, placing her hand above his racing heart and smiling.

"I can't get tired of you, Vinnie, and I'd love it if you'd take a chance on me so I could show you that. I'm not perfect either, and I'll probably say something stupid that'll make you angry with me every once in a while. And when I do, we'll fight and then we'll forgive each other, and we'll be okay. And just F.Y.I., I've already seen you transform into every demon you have sharing your body, and most of the time it's been in the middle of the night, or when I'm sick and vulnerable on an airship. If you haven't scared me away yet, you're not going to. I love you, Vincent Valentine."

"Yuffie – mmph!" Vincent began, cut off when Yuffie pulled his head down and pressed her lips against his. This time he didn't resist, closing his eyes and parting his lips to deepen the kiss. He could taste the sweetness of her mouth and felt a tingle run up his spine when she flicked her tongue against his teeth and then went deeper, exploring his mouth in a way he had forgotten he loved so much. He did the same, committing her scent and flavor to memory as Chaos purred with smug glee in the back of his mind.

Finally, they parted for air, and Vincent felt himself blushing, hoping he didn't look as much like a teenage boy who had just gotten his first kiss as he thought he did. Yuffie was grinning ear-to-ear, completely unashamed of how she might look. She snuggled closer to Vincent, letting him pull her under his cloak to shield her from the snow that had begun to fall in a steady curtain of large flakes. The Wutaian girl sighed contentedly, reaching up to play with his hair while she breathed in the subtly musky scent that was just naturally a part of Vincent, no matter how much he always tried to mask it.

"So," she finally said in as nonchalant a voice as she could. "Was that as good for you as it was for me?" Vincent smiled softly, the answer being screamed at him in his mind by a very enthusiastic Chaos even though he did not need any help deciding for himself.

"Yes," he said as said demon's wings unfurled behind him to add emphasis to that point. "It most definitely was." Yuffie giggled and stroked the wing, knowing whose it was and finding it strangely adorable that Chaos was trying to be helpful.

"So, are we okay?" she asked softly, continuing to pet the wing while it relaxed and drooped under her hand. "I mean… Do you think you want to be together as… you know… a couple?"

"If you don't mind the fact that I don't plan on becoming any more social around anyone but you - at least not anytime soon." Yuffie smiled, kissing him quickly on the lips and squeaking delightedly.

"Fine by me, Vinnie!"

"Well, then, now that that's settled," Vincent said, looking at the ever-increasing snowfall with distaste and turning his head away from Yuffie to sneeze softly. "Shall we get out of this snow before we both catch our deaths? Not that I disliked your care, but I don't really want to get sick again so soon."

She nodded, taking a few steps up the road, when she felt something grab her around the waist and lift her off the ground. She tensed for a moment, prepared to fight herself free, before she realized it was only Vincent, using Chaos's wings to carry them both back toward Kalm. She reached up and grabbed his hand, surprised when he pulled it away and pushed her fingers closed around something hard. She opened her hand, her eyes widening when she saw the unmistakably bright green color of an elemental materia. She gasped as she looked more closely at it; it was a mastered Ultima Materia.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" she shrieked, clutching the materia in her hands and wriggling with delight, causing Vincent to tighten his grip on her. "OH. MY. GOSH! Vincent, I love this!" Vincent smiled, kissing the crown of her head as they flew over the rooftops of Kalm, earning several delighted shrieks from the children below. He smiled into her hair, glad he had finally gotten a chance to give her the gift he had meant to bring her days ago.

"Happy birthday, Yuffie."

**Author's Note: Well, folks, that's the end. Thanks so much to everyone who read this story and encouraged me to keep going with it - your support means more than you'll ever know. And don't worry - this author's not NEARLY finished with these two yet. ;)**

**Vincent: Uh-oh...**

**Yuffie: Yay, more Vinnie for meeee! *tackles Vincent in a violent hug***

**Me: Muahahahaha!**


End file.
